Career Comparison: Real Estate Agent or Mortgage Broker

If you're considering a career as either a real estate agent or a mortgage broker, this article is designed to help you make a logical choice between these two careers. Read on to find out which occupation best fits your education, experience, skills and personality.

Personal Skills

If you want to be a real estate agent, an outgoing personality, a desire to be helpful, maturity and trust-worthiness are essential qualities. A real estate agent should also be able to present a house and sell the features it provides.

The job often requires long hours, and many days of showing houses or commercial property toprospective buyers without a sale, so patience is also a must. If you like events to move quickly and need a paycheck every week, a commission-based real estate agent's job may not be for you.

People with jobs or other obligations are often occupied during the day and do their house hunting on nights and weekends. As a result, real estate agents must be willing to make themselves available on short notice whenever their clients need them.

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Becoming a Real Estate Agent Or Mortgage Broker

What Real Estate Agents Do

A real estate agent does the following tasks as part of his or her job:

Compensation for Real Estate Agents

Some agencies may pay a nominal salary on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis, but most agents are compensated with commission after a sale, based on a predetermined percentage of the sale price. Earnings as a real estate agent tend to increase with experience.

Cited below are compensation ranges in various categories, from PayScale.com for 2018. The numbers reflect a range of averages. Some agents may earn less, others who are very good (and perhaps very lucky) may earn more.

Personal Skills

A good mortgage broker tends to have an outgoing personality and a desire to be helpful. Mortgage brokers must also be able to explain financial concepts and provide clients with information on how a mortgage works and what clients can do to improve their credit and become eligible for better mortgage rates.

The job often requires long hours and many days of searching for a lender willing to work with the prospective borrower, so patience is as key in this field as it is for real estate agents. This quality will also serve brokers well when they have to accept several rejections from lenders when trying to put a loan together.

As mentioned above in the section on real estate agents, people with jobs or other obligations are not available during the day and must conduct their mortgage work on nights and weekends. Mortgage brokers must therefore accommodate their customers' schedules. (For related reading, see: The New Mortgage Business: More Than Just Loans.)

What Mortgage Brokers Do

Mortgage brokers act on behalf of clients to find them the best interest rate and terms for a mortgage, either on a private residence or a commercial property. Researching the latest interest rates and loan terms is an essential and ongoing part of a mortgage broker's job of securing the best rates for a client. Many brokers, however, develop relationships with favored lending institutions.

Compensation

Mortgage brokers may earn a salary as well as additional compensation in the form of commission based on a predetermined percentage of the mortgages secured. Compensation ranges from PayScale.com for 2018 in various categories are cited below. The numbers reflect a range of averages. Some brokers may earn less, while better, more experienced brokers may earn more.

Item

Range of Compensation

Salary

$29,130 - $173,295

Bonus

$0.79 - $35,745

Profit Sharing

$1,250 - $112,500

Commission

$2,534 - $369,872

Total Pay

$28,850 - $176,850

Conclusion

Consider the similarities and differences between real estate agents and the mortgage brokers, and how they apply to your personality and background. Keep in mind real estate agents will be less concerned with financial details and the often tedious work of studying credit reports and lending contracts that occupy the mortgage broker.

Both jobs may require working nights and weekends; compensation for both careers is based on productivity. A major difference to be considered is the real estate agent may be moving from location to location during a typical work day. A mortgage broker, on the other hand, may work from an office or from home, and spend most of the work day on a computer or telephone. Whatever your choice, good luck in your job search. And remember, have a backup plan if you can't land the job you want right away. (For related reading, see: A Day in the Life of a Real Estate Agent.)